


Complicated

by NerdiestOfAll



Category: The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-15 22:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9261776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdiestOfAll/pseuds/NerdiestOfAll
Summary: Steve comes to stay at Avengers Tower, only to find out that the billionaire has a son. It should be fine and all, but the soldier soon finds himself growing feelings for the man, and things just get complicated. (Still suck at summaries!)





	1. Meeting Him

A/N: I don't own anything! All character rights go to Sony, Marvel, and Disney.

Steve stepped out of the elevator, and into a room that seemed similar to a living room, just very fancy.

"Ah, Capsicle!" Tony appeared, arms wide open, "You're finally here!"

"Sorry, Tony. Traffic is a little crazier nowadays." The soldier pulled in his suitcase.

"It's no problem. I just couldn't wait to see you." The billionaire dragged him into the living room, "Mostly because no one else is here. Though, Peter should be back anytime soon..."

"Peter?" Steve questioned.

"Hey! I'm back!" A slim, brown haired boy walked in.

"Speak of the devil." Tony smirked.

"I don't think that it's right to refer to your son as 'the devil'." The boy smirked.

"Son?" Steve raised a brow.

"I know, I'm old." Tony rolled his eyes, walking to the boy and wrapping his arm around him, "This is my son, Peter. Long story short, got a girl pregnant at sixteen. She raised him until she and her eventual husband died in a plane crash. I took him in afterwards. Now, he is just another genius Stark. Accepted to MIT, Caltech-"

"Except you wouldn't let me go to either because they are 'too far away'. Now I'm going to NYU." Peter rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up his nose. Something about that motion made the butterflies in Steve's stomach flutter.

"I need to be near you. In case of emergencies." Tony protested.

"You're away half of the time!" Peter retorted.

"You know what? We'll argue about this later. Why don't you show Steve where he'll be staying."

"Okay." Peter smiled at Steve, and motioned for him to follow, "Right this way, Captain Rogers."

"You can call me Steve." The soldier followed him in the elevator. Once the doors closed, he asked, "So, how old are you?"

Peter chuckled, "Are you trying to figure out my dad's age?"

Steve blushed and laughed, "No. No, just general curiosity."

"I'm twenty-one." Peter informed. He then smirked, "Which would make dad 37."

Steve chuckled, and then silence entered the elevator.

Once they arrived on the floor of their destination, the two walked out.

"Well, here we are." Peter motioned, "Until dad does renovations, he has two people to a floor." Peter walked down a hallway, "So, I'll be a couple doors down from you." He stopped at a door, which he opened for Steve.

"Thats fine. Definitely don't need an entire floor to myself anyways." Steve chuckled, going through the door.

"Yeah, dad has a thing for going to extremes." Peter smiled as he followed Steve into the room.

"Wow." Steve looked around the huge room. It was just filled with things that Steve dint think he would ever need. The bed was a king, there was a large tv, a desk with a laptop, an attached bathroom, and much more.

"He's a bit of an extr-" Peter was cut off, as he tripped over a cord, and headed straight for the ground. Luckily, Steve caught him, and helped him back up, "Thanks." Peter stared into Steve's eyes.

"No problem." Steve still help onto Peter.

"Well, um," Peter backed away from Steve, clearing his throat, "I should get going. Tons of work to do. And you got to unpack."

"Yeah, yeah. I should probably get right on that." Steve scratched the back of his head.

"See you at dinner." Peter headed out the door.

"See you." Steve watched the younger male leave. 'Oh boy.' He thought to himself, 'I'm in trouble.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is just a taste of what I'm going to be writing. Kind of rushed it though, as I felt left out with all the other authors posting their Peter/Steve fic updates today. I was going to post another chapter of "There Are No Secrets That Tine Does Not Reveal", but the newest one I'd currently only half-baked (though, except it soon!). So, I decided to give you a taste of this. Expect better written chapters in the future, though. This one was just quickly written so I can get this going. Anyways, have a good day/night, everyone!


	2. Keep Him Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Sorry it has taken so long to update. I actually have at least five chapters done, but I keep reviewing and editing them so I can make sure that they go along with where I want this story to go. Luckily, school was canceled because of snow today (and tomorrow!), so I am finally able to have the time to get this out (despite some power outages. Almost lost everything at one point! Yikes!). Anyways, let's get on with the story...

"Good evening, Tony." Steve waived to the billionaire, who just nodded at him in response, "Where's Peter? He isn't still upstairs."

"Who knows?" Tony shrugged, "Probably playing with things that he shouldn't be. He should be fine, though... I think."

"Sir, there is a minor fire in the private lab." The AI spoke.

"Totaly jinxed myself." Tony cussed, "Minor?"

"Mr. Parker-"

"He's a Stark!" Tony corrected in a loud, abrupt tone, earning a raised brow from the supersoldier, who jumped back in surprise.

"Right. Sorry, sir." J.A.R.V.I.S. apologized, "Peter seems to have gotten everything under control at this point."

"I bet he told you to say that." Tony stomped off, down the stairs, and Steve followed behind.

Once they finished their descent, the duo arrived on a floor choked by black smoke.

"Peter?" Tony called out, "Peter!"

"Right here!" Peter coughed, "I'm all good. Everything is under control."

"Get out of there, right now! That smoke can cause serious damage to your lungs." Tony ushered the man out.

"The fire is out." Was all Peter responded with at first. Then, "Just need for the smoke to clear."

"I'll take you to medical." Steve gently nudged Peter to head in the direction of the med bay, "To get you checked out."

"I'm fine, honestly." Peter protested.

"Sure you are." Tony rolled his eyes, "Let Steve take you down to get you checked out."

And, with that, Peter felt his hand being grabbed and pulled down the stairs.

If Steve was being honest, he soon realized that he was only using the situation as an excuse to touch Peter. Just to hold his hand. There was something oddly comforting. Normal.

Eventually, they reached the med bay, and Peter was sat down.

"I'm fine-" Peter began, but was cut off by Steve pulling up his shirt to put the cold instrument against his chest and listen.

"Take a deep breath." Peter did as instructed. Steve moved the instrument to a different place on Peter's chest, "Another." Another breath. "Another." This continued until Steve determined that the man was fine, "You're all good."

"See? What did I tell you?" Peter smiled.

Steve rolled his eyes and began to put things away, "What did happen, anyways?"

"Just another invention fail. Tends to end in some kind of damage with me." Peter laughed, waving his hand.

"Someone should really be supervising you." Steve chuckled with Peter.

"I'm surprised that dad doesn't. He can be a bit protective sometimes." Peter's smile grew, "Won't even let me date."

"Really?" Steve raised a brow.

"He never actually says anything against it, but I know he kind of sabotages me. There were always people getting in the way of me and people that I wanted to date. At fist I assumed that it was bad luck, but as soon as I saw one of said people, who couldn't earn money on his own if his life depended on it, counting out several hundred dollar bills behind the school one day, after getting between me and a guy, I knew that dad was involved. Especially after I paid closer attention and noticed that this was a reoccurring pattern." Peter shook his head.

"Wow." Steve responded. Then he paused and asked, "Wait, you and a guy?"

Peter looked down, "Yeah."

"Oh."

"It took me a while to figure it out. Then, even longer to accept, but I eventually did. I'm not ashamed like I used to be."

"You shouldn't be." Steve shook his head, "I, um, have always been working to be this perfect image. Yet, I could never feel that I fully achieved it. I used to ignore my own feelings, believing that they were the source of my imperfections and issues, but they weren't. My problems truly came from me hiding who I truly was."

"I didn't realize-" Peter began.

"You're one of very few people who know. I'm still working on the being myself, and not just a superhero."

Peter nodded, then got up, "Well, we should head up."

"Yeah. We probably should." Steve nodded in agreement, and then followed the younger male out.

-2 Hours Later-

The three ate in silence at the dinner table. Peter washed the dishes, despite the objections from the other men, and headed put to bed, claiming that he was tired from school. Steve and Tony now sat on a couch in the living room.

"Did he tell you what happened?" Tony asked, leaning back into his spot.

"Just that he had some accident in the lab that resulted in the fire." Steve shrugged.

"Except, that's not true." Tony informed, earning a confused look from Steve, "What he was working on couldn't have resulted in a fire. I know, I inspected everything, and checked my info with J.A.R.V.I.S. Heck, he wasn't even working near where the fire started."

"Why would he lie about that? Who else would have started it?" Steve questioned.

"This isn't the first time that Peter had gotten into some kind of trouble that could have gotten him hurt, without it being his fault. I think that people are after him, and he knows it. He just doesn't want me to worry." Tony pulled out a charcoaled device from his pocket, "This is what started the fire. Someone, somehow, managed to place this in my labs without being caught by J.A.R.V.I.S., and set it off when Peter was in the lab."

"What are you going to do?" Steve asked worriedly.

"I don't know. I need to keep an eye on him, but it would be difficult for me to avoid his, and the people who are sending these attacks on him, attention if I were to go in myself."

"I could watch him." Steve suggested.

"Steve, if people would notice me, then they would definitely notice you. You are about twice the size of an average male!" Tony waived his arms for emphasis.

"I could blend in better than you may think. Besides, even if he spots me, I could play it off like I just want to do something with him for fun. Unlike with you, where he'll immediately know what is going on."

"I don't know... He's a pretty smart guy." Tony rubbed his face, "Dang. I wish Clint and Natasha were here."

"How about you I've me a chance. You know, before you go out to hire spies?" Steve smiled.

"Fine." Tony sighed, and then got up, "I'm going to head to bed."

Steve got up right behind him, "Yeah, I'll probably do the same."

"Look, Steve, I know that you are a grown man, but you're still a tad bit young for me. Sorry."

"Goodness no! You know that's not what I meant." Steve looked flabbergasted.

"I know. I'm just messing with you, Cap. It's kind of weird to think of you as someone who I grew up learning about, and is now my team leader, but is technically young enough to date my son." Tony shivered, hopping in the elevator, "Actually, let's not get into that."

Steve nervously chuckled, following behind him, "Yeah, no. Not a good idea."

Eventually, Steve arrived on his floor alone, as Tony had gotten off earlier. He walked into the hall where the rooms were, and paused by Peter's door.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.? Is he-" Steve nodded toward the door.

"He's sound asleep, sir." The AI responded, and Steve nodded. The soldier was going to continue down to his room, but he paused before doing so. Next thing he knew, Steve had his left hand on the door knob, and he was staring into Peter's bedroom. His eyes relaxed on Peter's figure, moving slightly as he breathed. He seemed so quiet, calm, relaxed. So much unlike Tony. If they did not have similar physical features, you may not have ever believed that they were related. Sure, he had the intelligence, but Peter was not all up in your face about it. He was simple and sweet.

"Goodnight, Peter." Steve whispered, shutting the door, "See you tomorrow."

-Tony's Labs-

After going to bed, Tony found himself back in the labs, examining the room where the fire started. He was currently moving things around, trying to find any clues as to who the culprit could be. Though, he felt like he had a good idea.

He then moved over to where he currently stored one of his suits.

"If someone could break into my lab and set a fire..." he said to himself, slightly panicked, opening the sealed doors to the suit. He let out a sigh of relief at first, "Thank-" he began, but something on the side stuck out to him. It was a small, yellow sticky note. Tony read it to himself.

"He will pay for your sins, after learning the truth."


	3. Consequences

Steve stepped out of the elevator in his work-out clothes. He hoped that he would fool Peter into believing that he was going out for a run, rather than following him.

Before he stepped too far into the room, however, Tony pulled him to the side, "I spoke to Detective Jean DeWolff. She and Peter are good friends." He informed, "I told her that I would give you her number in case of emergency. She's also going to call Peter to ask about doing something with him today. I figured that he wouldn't be suspicious of her, and he probably wouldn't be attacked as long as she was by his side." Steve simply nodded in response, and moved to the kitchen.

Peter sat in a stool, pulled up to the island in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal and reading a textbook.

"Good morning, Peter." Steve greeted the younger man.

"Morning." Peter replied tiredly, earning a chuckle from Steve. Peter looked up to the older man, and froze at the sight of him. Though Steve was not going to admit it out loud, he was wearing a shirt that was a little tighter than needed to impress Peter. He didn't want to admit that he stooped to that level, however, so he acted as if he didn't notice.

"Did you get a good nights sleep?" The soldier asked casually.

"As good as possible." Peter tried to draw his eyes back to his book.

"That's good." Steve poured a bowl of cereal.

"How about you?"

"Pretty well. Especially since I'm about to go out on a run." Steve moved to sit in the stool next to Peter, who glanced at his bowl.

"Lucky Charms?" Peter laughed.

Steve's brow raised, "Is there something wrong with Lucky Charms?"

Peter shook his head, "No, no." His laugh continued, and Steve couldn't help but smile at his laugh, "I just didn't expect someone as big or, you know," he waived his hand at Steve, "as you to eat something like Lucky Charms."

"Oh? What did you expect me to eat?" Steve's smile grew.

"I don't know, actually... Eggs? Bacon? Big Breakfast for Big Boys?" Peter shrugged.

"Okay, you had to have had made that last one up." Steve chuckled.

"I did not! I just saw a commercial for it the other day!" Peter exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Show it to me."

"Can't." Peter shook his head, "It's very hard to find on the Internet."

"Oh, okay." Steve shook his head in disbelief, still smiling. The two then proceeded to eat their breakfast in silence.

At about seven o'clock, Peter got up and washed his dishes, "Well, I got to go. The bus will be here any minute."

"Oh, Peter. Why don't you just take one of my cars?" Tony's head poked up from the couch.

"I like taking the bus." Peter threw his bag over his shoulder, "Allows me to relax and think in the morning. Besides, I wouldn't want your car to be destroyed while I'm in the middle of one of my classes."

"Eh. I don't care about the car. Your the one that could get harmed, by taking that bus with some creepy stranger sitting next to you!"

Peter stood by the elevator, "They're not all creepy. If it makes you feel better, Jean might be driving me back depending on when we finish dinner. Just as long as we finish up before she needs to get back to her office..."

"Make sure that happens! I don't want you taking that bus back, especially late at night." Tony instructed.

"Of course." Peter waved as he entered the elevator, "See you all later."

Steve and Tony waited for a second, and then Steve got up and walked to the stairs, "And I'll see you later as well, Tony. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

He was about to step out when Tony spoke, "Steve?"

"Yeah?" Steve turned to him.

"Thank you." The billionaire spoke softly.

"Of course," Steve smiled, "Anything for a friend." And then he left.

-Eleven hours later (6:00 pm)-

Nothing had happened all day. Peter took the bus to his college, went to class, had lunch with his friends, went back to class, and now sat at a bench waiting for Detective Jean DeWolff.

Soon enough, a small car pulled up, and Peter smiled at the driver. He walked around the car, and proceeded to hop into the passenger's side. Steve followed the car, which eventually stopped at a pizza place. Peter got out of his side of the car, and hurriedly moved to open the driver's door.

A beautiful woman stepped out, laughing at Peter's adorable politeness. After closing her door, Peter took Detective DeWolff's hand and walked her inside.

The two sat inside for what seemed to be hours, laughing and eating pizza. Steve wished he could have been inside with them, listening to whatever they were saying, instead of sitting on top of the small building across the street.

Eventually, the pair stepped out of the pizza place, and Peter walked the detective to her car.

"I can still drive you." The detective appeared to be protesting something that Peter had stated before.

"No, no." Peter shook his head, "I don't want you to be late."

"It's dangerous at this time of night." DeWolff squeezed Peter's hand.

"I'll be fine." Peter assured, "I've been out later."

DeWolff sighed, and pulled Peter forward so she could kiss his cheek, "Be careful." she instructed.

"Always." Peter smirked. Steve's stomach panged. He secretly wished that Peter would have been upsetted by the kiss that the beautiful woman gave him. Sure, it was just on the cheek and appeared friendly, but it still hurt Steve to see it.

DeWolff hopped into her car and drive off. Peter waved to the car one last time and crossed the street to wait at a bus stop. He was too far from a subway station, but Steve would still prefer him going to one rather than waiting in the empty street, apparently alone, for a bus.

As if to confirm his reason to worry, a small group of men crept around the corner to Peter.

"Ah, there he is." One of the men spoke, causing Peter to turn his attention to the men.

"What do you want?" Peter questioned sharply.

"Just for you to come with us." Another man spoke.

Peter backed away, only to back into another man, who must have been twice the size of him. Peter turned to the larger man, who peered down at him, "Get away from me."

"No can do, Peter." The original speaker spoke again, "We were paid to get you."

"By whom?" Peter asked, as he looked for an escape route.

"I don't know, why don't you find out yourself?" One of the men came up behind Peter, and wrapped his arms around him. Steve, who was already moving to get down to Peter, now moved more rapidly.

Peter kicked back at the man where the-sun-don't-shine, allowing himself to be released. He tried to flee the group, but the men picked him up, holding his arms behind his back, and his legs up together so he couldn't kick anyone again.

At that moment, Steve rammed through the men, straight toward Peter. He was stopped, however, by the large man whom Peter had backed up into earlier. The man punched at Steve, who had left his shield at the tower in order to blend in with more ease, causing him to fall back. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw Peter being dragged off.

'I don't have time for this.' Steve thought, and decided to pull a full-forced punch, knocking the large man out. He gripped his hand, which was in much pain from the force. He then proceeded to throw punches at the men, not really giving them much attention, as he only had the goal of getting to Peter.

Once he reached the men dragging Peter away, Steve moved quickly and swiftly, careful not to hurt Peter in the process. The men were well trained, but were ultimately nothing against Steve. Whoever hired these men did not count on Steve's interference, or, at least, hoped that the large man that he faced could take out any obstacles.

After taking care of all the men, Steve calmly walked to Peter. Peter proceeded to get up, and Steve held his arm to give him support. Once he was standing, Peter pulled Steve into a hug. Steve, in pleasant surprise, wrapped his arms around Peter. However, it did not take Peter much time to pull back out.

"Sorry." Peter apologized.

"No, no. It's fine. Really, Peter." Steve assured. He then looked down at Peter's shirt, "Oh my gosh, you're bleeding."

"What?" Peter looked down, and then shook his head, "No, I'm not, Steve. You are."

Steve blinked, and the pain finally greeted him, "Oh."

"Here." Peter wrapped Steve's arm around him, as if Peter could support the supersoldier. Steve didn't say anything, though, as he was happy to get to touch Peter in some way.

"I'll take you to the hospital." Peter informed Steve.

"Why not the tower?" Steve raised his brow.

"Because I don't want to see my dad."

"Why not?"

"You just happened to be by where I was having dinner with a friend, in the same outfit that you claimed to be going on a run in this morning." Peter gave the man a look, "I'm not stupid. And I know that my dad put you up to this."

"He's just trying to keep you safe." Steve tried to persuade the younger man.

"He's suffocating me! I can't go anywhere without him being somehow involved." Peter's face turned a bit red.

"What would have happened tonight if I wasn't here, Peter?" Steve asked.

"I can take care of myself." Peter huffed.

"Peter-" Steve pleaded.

"Know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore." Peter sighed, "I'm tired. It's been a long day. I just want to get you to the hospital and get all the police reports taken care of."

"Okay." Steve responded quietly.

Soon enough, the two reached a hospital. The nurses and doctors were initially in shock when they saw Steve, but quickly got over it to take care of him. The police eventually showed up, along with Detective DeWolff, and began to ask Peter questions as he waited for the doctors to finish with Steve.

When Tony Stark finally showed up, Peter didn't even look at him, but the billionaire immediately rushed over to him.

"Thank goodness that your okay." Tony kneeled in front of Peter, "How's Steve doing?"

"Fine." Peter spoke flatly, "Very lucky that it wasn't worse."

Tony noticed a tone in the young man's voice, "Peter, what's wrong?"

"Don't think that I don't know," Peter spoke angerly, "that you have people stalking me."

"Peter," Tony spoke calmly, "They're just people watching you, to make sure your safe."

"All the time? I need space!"

"If I didn't have you being watched tonight, you would have gotten hurt."

"Better me than Steve." Peter crossed his arms.

"Don't say that-"

"I mean it! He just moved in, and you already roped him into your fiasco! And now, he's hurt." Peter was fuming, "You are so lucky that it wasn't worse."

Detective DeWolff stepped in, "Peter, you should be angry at me. I should have driven you home."

"Yeah, why didn't you?" Tony looked at her, "I thought that you were going to watch him. Protect him."

"I knew Captain Rogers was watching! I figured that he was fine." Detective DeWolff threw her hands up, "And I didn't want to force him in my car."

Peter's eyes went wide as he looked to his friend, "You knew? You were a part of this?"

The detective sighed, "Yes, Peter. But, we were just trying to protect you."

Peter got up, "All that I've been hearing is, 'We were trying to protect you.' Don't I get any say in this? Who decides who gets to risk themselves for me?" Peter's fists balled, "That was not your decision to make. At least, not on your own." Peter picked up his backpack, "Tell Steve that I hope that he has a speedy recovery, and that I thank him for what he has done." Peter began to move to walk away.

Tony grabs Peter's arm, "Where are you going?"

"That's for me to know. I don't want you sending someone to follow me." Peter tried to shrug the man off.

"If you are going anywhere, it's to the tower."

"I'm a grown man." Peter finally yanked his arm away, "I don't need you to tell me what to do or where to go." Peter began to walk off.

Tony and Detective DeWolff followed right on his tail, "Peter!" They both cried out, but then Peter took off running, going around a corner. The other two tried to run after him, but once they turned the corner, he was nowhere to be found.

"Shit!" Tony kicked a wall, repeatedly.

"Language!" A tall, blonde man chuckled as he approached the two, but then stopped when he saw their faces, "What's wrong?"

"Peter's gone, Captain Rogers." Detective DeWolff informed.

"What? Why?" Steve stepped forward.

"He thinks that we are being overprotective." Tony sighed.

"Well, you did have several people stalk him." Detective DeWolff noted.

"Yeah, but for a good reason." Tony sighed, "Now he's out there, alone. Who knows where he has gone, or who he'll run into." The billionaire waived his hand.

"Then let's go find him." Steve suggested, beginning to walk toward the elevator.

"Um... Don't you need to finish check-ups?" The detective followed behind.

"Nah." Steve waived his hand, "I'm fine. Besides, Peter needs us right now. I can't waste another minute in here." The three then proceeded to board the elevator, and head down to find Peter.


	4. The Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wasn't going to update anything today, but I figured that I should since its Valentines Day... Given the fact that this is the only thing that I have written up (and because I love you guys ;) !), I ultimately chose to update this. Oh, and just for clarification, Peter does not have his powers... Yet. Sorry, I thought that I clarified that, but, as one of you pointed out, I actually didn't. So, yeah, sorry about that. Anyways, let's get on with the story!

Peter ran past a group of people, not looking back at the hospital. He eventually snuck around a corner, only to ram into an older man, about Tony's age, but with grey hair.

"Hey, watch it kid." The man yelled, irritated.

"I'm so sorry, sir." Peter looked the man in the face. The man, who held a hand on Peter's arm froze. Upon noticing this, Peter raised his brow, "Is everything okay, sir?"

"Yeah." The man shook his head and released Peter, who suddenly felt that he knew the man from someplace, "You just- You're Tony Stark's kid, right?"

"Peter?" Peter heard a voice call from a small distance away.

"Please don't tell them where I went." Peter begged, running deep into an alley.

"I won't!" The man promised, but then narrowed his eyes at the young man before turning to walk away.

-Peter's POV-

"This is probably the best place for me to spend the night." Peter said to himself, before entering an abandoned building.

"Hello?" He called out, just to check for any other people, but he got no response. He walked up a few flights of stairs, and eventually came upon an old apartment, which still had a couch and blanket. It was dusty and old, but still better than nothing.

Peter laid on the couch, and looked up at the ceiling. There were webs of spiders all over it.

"Spiders, of course." Peter sighed, "I hate spiders." He then turned in the couch, closing his eyes and eventually going to sleep.

-Tony, Steve, and Jean-

"Peter?" Jean called out.

"Look, I know your mad, but you need to come back to the tower. It's not safe out here!" Tony cried out.

"Where would he go?" Steve wondered.

"No idea. Haven't exactly let him wander freely, well, anywhere before." Tony sighed, "I guess he'd find some abandoned building? To stay the night. Hopefully someplace without any crooks."

"And in the general area of what he's familiar with. Not too close to the tower." Jean suggested.

Steve nodded, "Well, I'm going to head back in that direction," he pointed behind himself, "Tony, why don't you continue forward, and Detective, you can head towards Hell's Kitchen."

Both the detective and Tony nodded in agreement, and began to move in their assigned direction.

"Immediately alert everyone if you come across him, or any signs of him." Tony called back.

"Will do!" The detective and soldier responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... I lied. It took a little bit longer to fix my chapter mishap, but at least it's done. This chapter is a bit shorter than I originally planned because I was planning to go somewhere with this, but them drew back on that decision, so I cut a huge chunk out of this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer! Sorry for the initial mistake, you guys, and I hope you have a great day/night!


	5. The Tony Issue

Steve sat tapping his fingers quietly against the small table by the couch. Tony, who was in the same room, paced as he spoke on the phone with Detective DeWolff.

"Let me know if they come up with anything, unlikely as it is. Okay." Tony stopped his pacing, "Thank you. Bye." He hung up his phone and then stuck it on the coffee table in front of Steve. Afterwards, he walked over to the bar, filling a glass a bit too much with an alcoholic beverage.

"I'm assuming nothing on Peter." Steve stated simply.

Tony gulped down his glass and then slammed it on the counter. "They're watching his credit cards and looking through the footage from cameras that I have around the city." Tony chuckled. Another glass of alcohol, "You know, the same cameras that he helped me install and the same credit cards that he obviously knows that we can track. He's not stupid." The billionaire leaned over the bar, placing a hand over each end of the bar, and then looked down.

"We'll find him, Tony. It may take time, but we will." Steve assured, "Sooner or later, he'll slip up or-"

"Slip up?" Tony's laughter grew, "Slip up?" He looked toward his fellow Avenger, "Oh boy, we're in a heck of a lot of trouble if we're counting on my son slipping up so we can catch him." Tony shook his head and looked down before suddenly turning and grabbing a bottle and throwing it across the room, causing Steve to jump in surprise.

"Tony, I think that you've had too much to drink." Steve advised. It had been a week since Peter had disappeared, and Tony has been drinking since day two.

"No, I think I need another." Tony reached for a bottle. Steve walked over to grab it from him, but Tony frowned, "And you can't stop me."

"You're right. I can't." Steve looked at Tony seriously, "But I can tell you that drinking is certainly not going to help us find Peter." Tony simply huffed and stomped off with the bottle to the elevator, heading for his room.

Steve sighed and walked back to the couch, where he closed his eyes and rested his face in his hands. After what seemed like hours, he heard a phone ringing. Looking up, Steve saw that Tony had left his phone on the coffee table in front of Steve. He didn't want to answer Tony's phone for him, but when he saw the caller ID, he knew he had to.

"Detective? This is Steve." Steve answered the phone.

"Hello, Captain. I am just calling to let you know that we just got a hit with one of Peter's bank accounts. It was just charged by a hospital." The detective went straight to the point, "I'm headed to the hospital right now. If you want, I can pick you up on the way. I am three minutes away."

"Okay. I'll be ready for you." Steve grabbed his coat from a bar stool.

"How about Mr. Stark?"

Steve paused and looked at the elevator. Then he shook his head and continued to gather his things, "He's not well. We should check it out before bringing him in."

"Okay. Well, then I'll see you in two minutes now."

"See you then." Steve simply replied, before hanging up and heading to the elevator.


	6. Finding Peter

"Excuse me, ma'am." Detective DeWolff placed an arm on the receptionist's desk, "We're looking for someone. Possibly a new patient here."

"Name?" The woman behind the counter tapped on the keys to her computer.

"His first name is Peter, but I don't know what his last name is." DeWolff spoke, knowing that Peter probably avoided using his real last name, "I have a picture of him as well." She pulled a picture out from her purse and handed it to the receptionist, crossing her fingers that the woman wouldn't recognize the man in the picture as Tony Stark's son. Peter wasn't someone that Tony tolled everyone about, but he wasn't exactly a secret either.

"Well, I'm not sure that I can find him in the computer with just his first name, but I can ask some of the doctors and nurses if they have seen him." The woman stared at the picture and then looked up at the two. As if just having seen Steve for the first time, she smiled at him, "I'll be back as soon as I find someone who has seen him-"

"We would like to come with you, if that is all right." Steve smiled back at the woman, "It is really important for us to see him as soon as possible."

"Oh, yes. Of course." The woman smiled as she got up, waiving for the pair to follow her, which they did. The three of them scanned the first seven floors, and showed off Peter's picture, hoping for someone to recognize him.

Eventually, the three were on the eighth floor. Steve was talking with a patient in a wheelchair when he looked up and saw Detective DeWolff waiving him over to where she was standing with a male doctor. After thanking the patient, Steve headed to the pair, who were talking.

"This is Doctor Warren." DeWolff informed, "He says that he has seen Peter."

"Yes, but he's not a patient here." The doctor informed, "He actually brought in one of my current patients into the emergency room earlier today. He didn't say much, just that the man was pretty roughed up from a fight. He then handed me a card and told me to use it to pay for the patient's medical bills. Your Peter friend was pretty beaten up too, but he had no intention of staying to receive medical help himself. He ran off right after dropping my patient off."

"Is your patient okay for questioning?" DeWolff asked.

"He's concious." Doctor Warren nodded, "A little hazy, but I think that he's fine for questioning. I can bring you to his room if you would like."

"That would be great." Steve smiled at the man, who nodded for the two to follow him.

Eventually, the three (the receptionist had gone back to her desk on the first floor) reached the room 837, and the doctor opened the door for the three to enter. Once inside, Doctor Warren walked up to the patient, who layed in a medical bed, and touched him slightly, "Mr. Skee? There are a couple of people here to ask you questions about the man that brought you in. I'll be outside if you need anything." The doctor turned to leave the room, "Go ahead and let me know when you are done." he told Steve and Jean, who both nodded. With that, Doctor Warren left the room.

"Hello, Mr. Skee. My name is Detective DeWolff. This is Captain-" Jean was cut off by the patient.

"I know who he is. What do you want? I already told the doctors, the man who brought me in didn't do this to me." The man seemed irritated and impatient.

"We didn't think so." Steve stepped in, "He's a friend of mine- ours, and we have been looking for him for over a week now. We were hoping that you would have some info on how we can find him."

"Not very likely." The man licked his chapped lips, "All that happened was I saw that kid being roughed up. Seemed like whoever was attacking was trying to take him, y'know? I stepped in to help him, and that's how this happened." He motioned to his beat up body, "The kid took me here afterwards, and that was that."

"Where were you when this happened?" Jean asked, taking notes in a notepad.

"Just a couple blocks east from here." The man shrugged.

"And we're there any distinguishable marks or symbols on the men trying to take him?" Jean continntinue dot scribbling in her notepad.

The man thought for a second, "Yeah, actually. There were symbols on the sleeves of their shirts."

"Could you draw it for me?" DeWolff handed her notepad to the man, who wordlessly took it and began to draw something in. After a minute, he handed it back to Jean. Steve walked over to look at the image over her shoulder. He didn't recognize the oddly shaped symbol, but the look on Jean's face told him that she did. Jean smiled and shoved her notepad in her bag, "Thank you so much. You have been extremely helpful. Let me know if you ever need anything."

"No problem. I hope you find your friend soon. Something tells me that he's in a lot of trouble." The man waived the two off as they exited the room. Once the two were out, they waived at Doctor Warren, who nodded at the two.

"Okay, so I don't know what that symbol is for, but you clearly do." Steve commented quietly as the two made their way to the elevator.

"It's for a small group in this area. They pretty much do whatever for money. Recently," DeWolff pressed the button for the first floor in the elevator, "we put a man undercover in that group. To keep an eye on them and report to us. If I can get ahold of him-"

"Maybe he can tell us how to find Peter and why people are after him." Steve nodded along.

"Exactly." Jean whipped out her phone, "I'll call his supervisor and see if we can get in touch with him."

"Perfect." Steve sighed in relief as Jean dialed her phone.

Thirty minutes later, the two were at the police department, sitting in the office of Captain Stacy.

"Well," Captain Stacy slid a folder into a drawer of his desk, "my officer should be calling us within the next half an hour to give us some updates. You are welcome to speak with him then. Just keep in mind that he has very limited time. Especially with him being a new member of the group. There's not a lot of trust in him right now by those members."

"Of course. We just have a couple of questions that we need answered in order to find Peter." Steve assured.

The police captain nodded. As if on cue, the phone by him began to ring, and Captain Stacy answered, putting the phone on speaker.

"This is Officer Kaul speaking. My code is 027861." The voice over the phone spoke.

"You're clear. Go ahead. Just so you know, we have a Detective DeWolff and Captain Rogers also here listening. They are hoping to find information on a man named Peter. They have reason to believe that the group you have infiltrated tried to kidnap him earlier today." Captain Stacy informed.

"Well, luckily for them, that is one of the subjects that I was planning to report on. The organization, along with several other groups, have been offered money to capture the young man you speak of. However, this organization has come to the conclusion that they may be able to receive more money by holding him hostage themselves, and demanding money from Tony Stark. Luckily, Peter escaped earlier today, but they will be trying again soon. This time, with more force and man power." The speaker informed.

"How are they planning on finding him?" Steve asked.

"We've kept track of his general whereabouts from where he has been spotted. Even though he's pretty sneaky, he has remained in the same general area, making it easier for us to track him down." The officer answered.

"Is there any way for you to send that info to us?" Detective DeWolff asked.

"Sure thing. I'll send it to your phone, detective." There was some rumbling over the phone, "People are coming. I've got to go."

"Of course." Captain Stacy nodded, despite the man over the phone not being able to see it, "Thank you for everything." Then, the phone hung up.

"Thank you so much, Captain Stacy." Steve stood up and shook the man's hand.

"Anytime. Peter was a friend of my daughter's before she died in the Chatari attack." The captain smiled sadly, "He's a good kid."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Steve stated sincerely. Captain Stacy simply nodded as Steve and Jean headed out the door.

-Three Hours Later-

Steve and Jean sat in the Avenger's Tower, waiting for a message from Officer Kaul. They decided to wait in the lobby in order to avoid Tony (though Steve did run up to change into his Captain America suit and grab his shield), and to also be able to leave the tower quickly once they got the information.

Some odd minutes later, Jean's phone buzzed, and she whipped it up to read it. She then stood up and began walking toward the enterance of the building, reading aloud as she did so, "Here's the information you requested. However, just so you know, the group has spotted Peter somewhere on Broadway. They are planning on hitting him now. You better hurry."

Steve got up quickly and began to follow Jean when he heard J.A.R.V.I.S., "Should I inform Mr. Stark?"

"No, I think that it is best that he stays out of this. He may do more harm than good." Steve spoke as Jean nodded.

"Very well, sir." J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke reluctantly, and, with that, the two left the building.


	7. The Hit

Peter was headed down Broadway, looking for his next place to sleep. He had just eaten a small dinner at a little cafe on the street. It was dark outside, and he was beginning to feel uneasy, sensing that someone was following him.

His ears picked up at a group of male voices behind him, and he began to pick up the pace. He looked back to examine the group behind him, taking note of the logos on their sleeves.

'Not them again.' Peter sighed at his thoughts, more annoyed than worried.

"Yoo-hoo, Peter. It's us again. Why don't you come with us peacefully, and we promise that we won't hurt you." One of the men spoke.

"Bull." Peter spoke under his breath before taking off running. The men, expecting him to run, began to run as well. Peter turned a corner and looked back, seeing no one, but also knowing that the group wasn't that far behind. A man appeared out from an alley to his left, and he instinctively turned right.

His chest was tightening, as his body wasn't really built for running, and he was beginning to panic. Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alley, and back behind a dumpster. He was about to scream out when a large hand wearing fingerless, leather gloves covered his mouth.

He thrashed against the person, but a voice calmly spoke in his ear, "Peter, calm down. It's just me." Peter then looked down to see the man's other hand (not the one covering his mouth) holding a familiar shield and the man pulled him closer and protectively with the hand. Peter's breathing slowed, and he rested his head against Steve's chest.

The sound of footsteps as men ran by the alley met the two's ears, and Peter's breath quickened. Steve, however, calmly and quietly hushed him.

Eventually, the footsteps stopped, and Steve let go of Peter's mouth, but kept his arm firmly wrapped around Peter.

"My morticycle isn't far from here." Steve whispered, "We need to get back to the tower."

"Steve-" Peter began.

"You're going back. End of discussion. It's not safe for you out here." Steve got up slowly, watching for any men, and then pulled Peter up after him. He then grabbed Peter's hand, and walked him slowly down the alley. After checking to make sure the street was clear, Steve took Peter and began to run down the street.

Eventually, the two reached Steve's morticycle, and Steve tossed a helmet to Peter. The two began to climb on the morticycle when Peter's head suddenly snapped to the side, and he cried out, "Steve!" Before being knocked to the ground by a figure.

Steve immediately got off his bike and moved to get the man off of Peter, but another man appeared and pushed him away from Peter. Steve was taken aback by the surprise blow, but quickly shook it off and hit the man back. He spared a glance towards Peter, who had just knocked his attacker away. Steve grabbed his own attacker and slammed him into the man by Peter, knocking both men of the criminal organization to the ground.

As Steve struggled to hold both men down, he looked toward an unsure Peter, and yelled, "Run!" Peter then nodded and did as he was told. However, as he was running down the sidewalk, another man came out and knocked Peter through the window of a small shop.

"Peter!" Steve cried out as he finished knocking both of the men under him unconscious. He then got up and ran toward the shop, where he grabbed the man who had knocked Peter though the window, and smacked his head against Steve's shield, knocking him unconscious.

"Peter?" Steve climbed through the window, ignoring the blaring alarms, but being cautious of the broken glass.

"Ow." Peter sat up and rubbed his head, "That hurt." He tried to get up, but stopped with a hiss.

"Wait." Steve kneeled down next to Peter, "You've got some glass cut into you."

"Gee, I didn't notice." Peter chuckled, but stopped with another hiss.

"There's a huge chunk in your side here." Steve carefully shifted Peter so he could examine his right side more. Peter tightly grabbed Steve's arm during the movement.

"We'll probably have to get it out if you want me riding back on your morticycle." Peter shut his eyes and gritted his teeth as he spoke, "The problem comes when figuring out how to stop the bleeding."

"I would hope," Steve got up and began to look around the shop, "that a place like this would have- aha! A First Aid kit." He rushed back to Peter and opened the kit.

"Y'know, I was kind of hoping that you would just be like those guys in the movies and take off your shirt to stop my bleeding." Peter chuckled. When Steve paused at that comment, Peter laughed harder, "Don't worry, I was totally kidding." Steve remained frozen for a second longer before getting to work.

"Am I going to need to get something for you to bite down on while I get the glass out?" Steve looked at Peter worriedly, "So any of those goons nearby can't hear us?" Peter bit his lip and shook his head. Steve then sighed and grabbed the glass with one hand, and one of Peter's hands with the other, "Okay. Feel free to squeeze my hand as hard as you need." Peter shut his eyes and held Steve's hand tightly.

Before Peter knew it, the glass was out. He rested his head on Steve's shoulder as tears streamed down his face. Steve placed his now glass-free hand behind Peter's head and stroked his hair softly.

"It's okay, Peter." Steve assured, "We're almost done. I'll bandage you up and-"

"Well, look at that." Steve suddenly felt a gun pressed behind his head, "Not only do I have our hostage, but a certain Avenger as well. I'm sure that we'll get plenty of money off of the both of them combined." Peter looked up to see three men behind Steve. His hold on Steve's hand tightened.

"Get up. Both of you." Another man spoke.

"He's not well enough to get up and walk." Steve nodded toward Peter, "He'll bleed out."

"Then we'll just have to deal with you instead. We can just leave him to bleed." The first man spoke again.

"No!" Steve's voice raised, "I mean, no." He quickly calmed down, "Let me carry him. Tony will pay more for him than just me. You don't want to leave him behind."

"Fine, but leave your shield to the side. And move slowly." The first man instructed.

Steve began to pull Peter closer to himself. While he was moved, Peter let out a faint pained noise, and tears threatened his eyes once more. Steve took Peter into his arms and then whispered, "Everything is going to be okay."

Suddenly, two gunshots were heard from behind Steve, who looked up to see one of the men standing over the other two. When Steve gave the man a confused look, the man replied, "I'm the officer you spoke to over the phone. No time to explain anything. Another group should be headed over here soon. You need to go."

"Thank you officer." Steve gave the man a thankful smile as he picked Peter up to leave, making sure to also grab a bandage wrap as he did. He then hopped out the window and ran back over to the morticycle.

"I don't know where the helmet that I gave you went, and we don't have time to look. So, I'm going to need you to hold onto me with all the strength that you have, okay?" Steve looked at Peter, who nodded slightly. The two then got in the morticycle and Steve started it without hesitation, and drove off. Peter held onto Steve tightly the whole way, and Steve was somehow comforted by the feeling. That is, until he could feel the blood seeping through Peter's bandages and into his own shirt.

As soon as the pair arrived at the tower, Steve hopped off his bike and picked Peter up to head to the medical wing. Once they were actually inside the tower, Steve yelled, "J.A.R.V.I.S., tell Tony to get his ass out of bed and into the medical wing. Now!" He ran into the elevator and looked down at Peter, who was struggling to keep his eyes open, "You have to stay awake. You hear me, Peter?" He shook the smaller body, but Peter's eyes were now completely shut. Steve's concern heightened.

Once they arrived at the proper floor, J.A.R.V.I.S. Informed Steve, "Mr. Stark is in the first room down the hallway to the left."

Steve sprinted over the the room that J.A.R.V.I.S. told him that Tony was in and practically kicked down the door.

"He's lost a lot of blood." Steve informed Tony as he layed Peter down on the bed. Tony followed Steve over with some medical tools and cut the bandages off of Peter.

"He's going to need a blood transfusion." Tony stated as he cleaned around the large wound on Peter, "He's A positive. Go into the hallway. Two doors down to the right. His blood type should be in that room." Steve nodded and followed the instructions.

However, two minutes later, Steve came back panicked, "Tony, there no A positive or any other blood type. Only this note in its place." Steve handed Tony a post-it note. Tony didn't even have to read it to know that someone had taken the blood to harm Peter.

"Shit!" Tony threw his tools, having just finished his rushed stitch work.

Steve's eyes suddenly lit up, "I have the same blood type." He quickly sat in a chair next to Peter, "Draw some blood from me."

Without a word, Tony grabbed a blood bag and a needle to draw blood from Steve. Once he was finished, he moved to Peter and set everything up so that he could get the blood fed into Peter.

Fifteen minutes later, the two finally had everything under control, and both of them sat in chairs on opposite sides of Peter, impatiently waiting for him to wake.

Shifting slightly, but keeping his eyes on Peter, Steve asked, "What did it mean Tony?"

"What did what mean?" Tony looked at Steve, and then back at Peter.

"You know what I mean." Steve sighed, "The note? What did it mean when it said, 'I told you.'"

"I told you, people are after Peter."

"But you seem to have a better idea of what is going on with this particular group. The note clearly hints that your have gotten messages from these people before. And-"

"Look, Steve." Tony rubbed his face, "I have no idea who these people are. I just know that I'm going to give them hell when I find them."

"Tough to do when you're drunk half of the time." Steve huffed.

"That's a low blow, Steve." Tony frowned.

"But it's true." A voice came from the young man laying in front of the two Avengers.

"Peter." Tony leaned over, "How are you doing?"

"Peachy. Though, not to happy to hear that you've been drinking." Peter frowned.

"You are in no place to criticize me on that subject matter." Tony's voice sharpened.

"If you step out of line too much, I have the responsibility to put you in check. Believe it or not, I also have to be here for you, as you are for me." Peter argued.

"Well, you weren't here." Tony retorted, and then stood up and headed toward the door, "I've got some things to take care of. Let me know if his conditions change. It's good to have you back, Peter." He looked at Peter, but spoke unenthusiastically. Then, with that, he left the room.

"Sorry that you had to sit through that." Peter turned to Steve.

"Don't worry about it. I understand, you're concerned for him. But you've got to realize that despite the fact that you say that you two have to look out for each other, you never let him take care of you. It's good to be independent, but you don't always have to be." Steve squeezed Peter's hand.

"It's not really an independence thing. It's more of a 'I need to not have him breathing down my neck' thing." Peter sighed.

"Well, you should kind of see where he's coming from. I mean you are the son of a billionaire Avenger, and now you have a second Aveneger that lives with you and doesn't think you're too shabby." Peter chuckled at Steve, "Lots of people will see even just one of those things alone as a reason to hurt you. Having all three of them means a constant target on your back. And your reluctance to seek help doesn't help either. The fact that you didn't say anything about your lab accidents was pretty much why he had me stalk you."

"I guess your right." Peter closed his eyes, "Though, chances are that he's now devising a plan to lock me in my room so that this won't happen again."

Steve laughed, "I will admit that Tony can be a bit overprotective, but he would never do that." Peter opened his eyes and gave Steve a pointed look, and, after a second's pause, Steve leaped out of his chair and sped towards the door, "I'll go talk to him. Get some rest." Steve waived as he nearly tripped on his way out the door, causing Peter to chuckle.

Once Steve was out of sight, Peter lifted his head and let out a hefty sigh, "Yeah, I'm screwed. Aren't I, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"I don't like to be a pessimist, sir, but it does seem like you are, in fact, 'screwed'." J.A.R.V.I.S. responded.

"Great." Peter closed his eyes and fell back into the bed with a 'thunk!'.


End file.
